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A mum-of-two has recalled the moment she scooped up her kids from the swimming pool and ran for their lives during the Tunisian massacre.

Leanne Walker, 28, was on holiday in the Soviva Resort in Port El Kantaoui, near Sousse, with her mum, Lorna Convey, 55, and her children, Thomas, four, and Gracie-Mai, two.

They were enjoying a play in the pool on Friday morning when the sickening sounds of gunfire rang out in the air.

“I didn’t see it but I heard it all,” said Leanne, a nurse from Eston. “It was terrifying.”

The family, who had never been to Tunisia before and were “ecstatic” about going, arrived there late Wednesday night.

“We only had the Thursday, the hotel was lovely, the locals were lovely,” she said. “It was beautiful, it met all our expectations.”

They got up on the Friday morning and had their breakfast and settled next to the swimming pool at the resort.

“I saw a lot of smoke behind the hotel,” said Leanne. “Then there was 30 seconds of gunfire.

“Staff told us to run and we grabbed the kids - my mum jumped in the pool to grab my son while I grabbed my daughter - and we ran to reception. The staff were crying and there was screaming.

“A 16-year-old boy covered in blood came into reception. The staff told us to lock ourselves in our room.”

Holed up in their hotel room the family turned on the TV news and discovered the horrific extent of what had happened in the attack at two hotels in Sousse which has claimed the lives of 38 people.

“My little girl was innocent of it all but my little boy knew there were guns and people had been killed,” said Leanne.

Leanne and her family flew home at the weekend

The family flew back to England the following day and said they were “so relieved” to be home.

But Leanne said she is unhappy with the response from Jet2holidays, the tour operator they travelled with.

“We tried to contact them and ask about how we could go home,” she said.

She said she was told that Enfidha airport near Sousse was “in lockdown” but then saw on the news that Thomson and Thomas Cook had flown holidaymakers home.

On Saturday they received a call at 12.45pm to say a coach was leaving at 1pm but she said it didn’t give them enough time to pack and get the children ready for the journey.

At 2.30pm they received another call to say a second coach was leaving between 3pm and 4pm which they boarded to catch the same 5.20pm flight the earlier coach had left for.

“I couldn’t have possibly thought about staying,” she said.

“The holiday cost just shy of £1,500 - plus all the suncream and holiday clothes you buy before you go - and we’ve worked hard and saved all year for it but we’ve been told we’ll get nothing from Jet2holidays.

“They said we’re not entitled because it was our choice to come home. But when we spoke to a rep on the phone they advised us for our own safety to leave the country.

Leanne said the family’s experience in Tunisia was “absolutely awful”.

“It’s been a horrendous few days,” she said.

“How could we stay somewhere knowing all these people had died? We could have been on that beach ourselves that day.

“People say to me at least you’ve got your life and I do appreciate that but when you’ve worked hard all year for a holiday you expect to get something back. It’s not acceptable the way we’ve been treated.”

A Jet2holidays and Jet2.com spokesperson said: “We are glad Leanne is back home safely.

“We do understand her frustration but we offered all our customers the option of returning home, free of charge, or staying in Tunisia.

“Many of our customers decided to stay in Tunisia and continue their holidays whilst many others made the perfectly reasonable choice to come home.